The Small Faces

The Small Faces

Origin: London, England
Genres: Rock, R&B, psychadelic pop
Years Active: 1965-1969, 1975-1978
Associated Acts: Humble Pie, Faces, Wild Horses, The Who
Website: www.thesmallfaces.com

Members:
-Steve Marriott

-Ronnie Lane

-Kenney Jones

-Jimmy Winston
-Ian McLagan

-Rick Wills
-Jimmy McCullough

-The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, who was heavily influenced by American R&B.

-Formed in 1965 by Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, Jimmy Winston. In 1966, Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's keyboard player.

-The band is remembered as one of the most influential mod groups of the 1960s London era.

-The band started back up in the 1970s, only this time the band was renamed Faces, with Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, who were from the Jeff Beck Group. Ronnie Wood served as guitarist, Rod Stewart served as lead vocalist

-In the 1990s Britpop movement, The Small Faces are considered to be one of the biggest inspirations for most of the British pop groups of the 1990s.

History
-Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriot met each other in 1965 while Marriot was working at the J60 Music Bar in Manor Park, London. Lane came with his dad Stan to buy a bass guitar and this led to him going to Marriot's house to listen to records. The 2 recruited Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, who were best friends. How they came to use the name Small Faces is because of the band's small stature.

-Some of their early songs include "Jump Back", their rendition of James Brown's "Please Please Please", their rendition of Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me", Ben E. King's "Stand by Me". Their first major concert was at a working men's club in Sheffield. The band was paid after 3 songs because the crowd consisted of mainly Teddy Boys and hard drinking men. This band was heavily supported by Sonny & Cher, who lived in London at the time.

-The band got a contract with England record company Decca, through Don Arden. Their first major hit was "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", which became a Top 14 UK singles hit on the charts.

-In 1966, after they broke off Decca, they were offered a new deal from ex-Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. So the band was given an open account at Olympic Studios in London. Their first hit was "Here Comes the Nice", which was said to have been influenced by their drug use.

-At the end of 1968, Marriot left the band, walking off the stage during a live New Year's Eve concert, simply yelling "I quit." He was looking ahead to form a band called Humble Pie with Peter Frampton.

1970-1975
-After the band split up, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan halted on music until they decided to join forces with Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, who were previously with the Jeff Beck Group. They dropped the Small part form the name and became just Faces.

-The band broke up in 1975, as later that year, Rod Stewart went solo and Ronnie Wood would go on to join up with The Rolling Stones.

1975-1978
-The band tried to re-record an old hit called Itchycoo Park, which hit the charts once again. But unfortunately, Ronnie Lane was beginning to show symptoms of multiple sclerosis, which everyone thought was a drunken tantrum.

Post reunion: 1979-present
-Ian McLagan went on to perform with musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, David Lindley, Billy Bragg.

-Kenney Jones became the new drummer for The Who after Keith Moon's death in 1978 and continued until the late 1980s. He recently formed a band called The Jones Gang

-On Saturday, April 20, 1991, Steve Marriot died in sleep when a fire, caused by a cigarette, swept through his house in Essex, England. His death came a few days after he began work on a new album in America with Humble Pie band member Peter Frampton.

Ronnie Lane's career took a sharp turn because of multiple sclerosis, but he managed to do work with Who guitarist Pete Townshend and Rolling Stones guitarist and former band mate Ronnie Wood in the 1970s. Lane died on June 4, 1997 in his home in Trinidad, Colorado after battling MS for nearly 20 years

Discography